Thursday, August 14, 2014

Supreme Court Declares Gravity Unconstitutional

-- NEWS FLASH --

NEW DELHI - Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled gravity unconstitutional in H20 vs. Newton.  

The plantiff, H20, after the ruling

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I'm always delighted when this happens in the freezer.  It's a delightful way to begin living in my new place.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

What's Past is Prologue

A few years ago the New York Times documented "emerging adulthood." I remember that article vividly because it captured my demographic well and it was written with the same sense of bafflement, frustration and fascination that is often seen when one generation writes about another.

Recently I moved into temporary housing in Ballston and I'm surprised to discover how much I like it there.  The building is modern, the gym is well equipped, the metro is less than a block away and the Harris Teeter is ten minutes away.  The courtyard in front of my building hosts a weekly farmer's market on Thursdays, a Capital Bikeshare station, and the best lunch dollar-for-dollar in Washington: Potbelly's.

I felt so grown-up, mature and healthy.  I even signed-up for the rewards card and designated a school in Alexandria to benefit from my purchases at this store. And then I saw this at the Harris-Teeter.

Exhibit A of "Emerging Adulthood"

Well, at least it's reusable.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Hillaryphillic

This article, Hillary Clinton’s Last Tour as a Rock-Star Diplomat, largely focuses on the Secretary and it's interesting (if fawning) in itself, but there are also some insights about the Foreign Service are are worth reading about.  Here is the juiciest bit though.

These [personal] gestures and her strong advocacy for the budget at the State Department have re-energized the American Foreign Service, which felt beleaguered under President George W. Bush. Clinton makes a point of visiting American embassies and consulates — 109 so far — wherever she travels to thank the diplomats and their families, as well as the local staff who make up most of the work force abroad. She became the first secretary to hold special Christmas parties at the State Department for the families of diplomats with hardship posts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Daily Commute

I saw this on my way home today.  My imagination went wild.  How could this happen?

Car Trampolines Are Never a Good Idea

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Time(less)

Going back to California is always an intoxicating mixture of nostalgia and excitement, but nothing captures the essence of that tonic like baseball.  Fortunately I had the chance to go to a Dodgers-Angels game when I was in Los Angeles last week with my family.  Even though the Dodgers lost, the game was still amazing.  Dodgers fans outnumber Angel fans in the first few innings and Bobby Abreu rewarded our enthusiasm by driving in three runs during the top of the first.  The Dodgers' power continued into the second inning, but the Angels stopped it cold after that.  But the fourth inning was the most impressive because the Angels' Bobby Wilson pulled off a suicide squeeze and then Mike Trout hit a homer to give the Angels the a 6-5 edge.  The Angels ended up winning 8-5.

Bummer.

But even if you don't like baseball (and many readers of this blog don't), how can you not be impressed by a view like this:

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

"Probably Impossible"

It's probably impossible, but Kishi Bashi's "Bright Whites" was probably fathered by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and raised by Animal Collective.  How can one not hear the resemblance?

 127% of your daily recommend whimsey in less than five minutes!

None of my planes crashed, I received a free upgrade to business class on the Miami to Port-au-Prince leg, and I discovered this song made my return to Haiti surprisingly buoyant.

Kudos to NPR for podcasting about Bashi.